84 THE OPEN AIR. 



broods, and some are nesting late in the autumn. 

 By degrees as the summer advances they leave the 

 houses for the corn, and gather in vast flocks, rivalling 

 those of the starlings. At this time they desert the 

 roofs, except those who still have nesting duties. In 

 winter and in the beginning of the new year, they 

 gradually return ; migration thus goes on under the 

 eyes of those who care to notice it. In London, some 

 who fed sparrows on the roof found that rooks also 

 came for the crumbs placed out. I sometimes see 

 a sparrow chasing a rook, as if angry, and trying 

 to drive it away over the roofs where I live. The 

 thief does not retaliate, but, like a thief, flees from 

 the scene of his guilt. This is not only in the 

 breeding season, when the rook steals eggs, but in 

 winter. Town residents are apt to despise the 

 sparrow, seeing him always black ; but in the country 

 the sparrows are as clean as a pink ; and in them- 

 selves they are the most animated, clever little 

 creatures. 



They are easily tamed. The Parisians are fond 

 of taming them. At a certain hour in the Tuileries 

 Gardens, you may see a man perfectly surrounded 

 with a crowd of sparrows some perching on his 

 shoulder; some fluttering in the air immediately 

 before his face ; some on the ground like a tribe 

 of followers; and others on the marble seats. He 

 jerks a crumb of bread into the air a sparrow dex- 

 terously seizes it as he would a flying insect; he 

 puts a crumb between his lips a sparrow takes it 

 out and feeds from his mouth. Meantime they keep 

 up a constant chirping ; those that are satisfied still 



